Hanger for string of lights



July 6, 1965 M. ca. STOCK HANGER FOR STRING OF LIGHTS Filed April 11'.1963 United States Patent Ofifice 3,l93,229 Patented July 6, 19653,193,229 HANGER FOR STRING OF LIGHTS Marvin G. Stock, 17 83 ChnrchwoodDrive, Cincinnati, Ohio Filed Apr. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 272,302 3 Claims.(Cl. 248-44) This invent-ion relates to a device for hanging strings oflights and other like ornaments and more particularly the invention isdirected to a hanger for use in securing a string of lights to abox-type rain gutter.

The manner of hanging a string of lights and other similar ornamentsaround the outside of a residence is a vexing problem which must besolved anew by each home owner because of the fact that there is notpresently available any satisfactory device for attaching a string oflights to a house.

Left to his own devices, the home owner may adopt one of perhaps twoprincipal approaches to the problem of hanging the lights, neither beingparticularly satisfactory. The first involves the home owners driving aseries of nails into the Wood normally found just below the roofoverhang and supporting the string of lights from such nails. If singlepointed nails are used, they must be bent after being driven in, inorder to keep the string of lights from sliding or being blown off. Ifdouble pointed nails are used, care must be exercised to avoid drivingthe nails so tightly against the wood as to damage the insulation on thestring of lights. In either case, the constant rubbing of the stringagainst the nails tends to fray the insulation and shorten the life ofthe string. Further, in the case of double pointed nails, the nails mustbe withdrawn to take down the lights, and this, too, could result indamage to the conductor insulation.

An alternative approach involves the bending of wires to form fastenersfor securing the string of lights either to the rain gutter or to nailsdriven into the wood adjacent the rain gutter as described above. Thisprocess of hanging strings of lights is laborious, the problem ofshorting the conductors or at least fraying the insulation is presentand unless the hanging is done quite carefully, there is no insurancethat the string of lights will stay on in the wind.

The objective of the present invention has been to provide the clipthrough which strings of lights may be rapidly installed on the raingutter of a home. The invention contemplates the provision of twointerconnected hooks formed .as an integral plastic member. The firsthook is resilient and is adapted to be sprung or slipped into positionover an inwardly projecting lip on a box-type rain gutter. The secondhook is also resilient and normally is in the form of a closed loop butis adapted to be sprung open to receive the conductor of the string oflights and to close over the conductor to prevent its inadvertent escapefrom the hook. The portion of the hanger interconnecting the two hooksis oriented with respect to the two hooks so as to bear against theoutside surface of the rain gutter and thereby to provide support forthe string of lights, the added support tending to reduce or eliminateany bending stress which might weaken the hanger.

A number of advantages are derived from the construction describedabove. The configuration and resilience of the first mentioned hookcombine to require a resilient distortion or flexing of the hook to slipit over the lip of rain gutter. The application of the hook to the raingutter is easily performed but nevertheless provides a secure lock ofhanger to the rain gutter which prevents the inadvertent removal of thehangers from the action of wind pulling on the hangers. When applied,however, the hangers may he slid along the rain gutters rather easily.Thus the hangers do not require proper positioning when applied to therain gutter but rather can be ap plied and thereafter slid to thatposition designed to give the proper support to the string of lights.Further, when the string of lights is to be taken down, the operation isperformed easily merely by pulling the one end of the string and slidingthe string and hangers toward the person taking them down.

The desired structural organization and physical characteristics may beobtained for molding the hanger from nylon which has a number ofcharacteristics ideally suited for this application. One of these isthat it is receptive to vegetable coloring dyes so that the clipsthemselves can be given a decorative color when used for example in thehanging of Christmas tree lights.

Several features of the invention will become more readily apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the roof of a house showing a pluralityof the hangers employed in fixing a string of lights to a rain gutter,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a single hanger fixing a light string toa rain gutter,

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a hanger being applied to a raingutter, and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a hanger in place on a rain gutter.

Referring to the drawings, the hanger is indicated at It and has a firsthook 11 adapted to be applied to a lip 12 of a rain gutter 13 attachedto a roof 14 of a residence. A second hook 16 is integral with the firsthook 11 and extends generally at right angles to the first hook. Thesecond hook receives a conductor 17 which interconnects lights 18 toform the string of lights.

The rain gutter hook 11 is V-shaped and is formed of two legs 19 and 20which provide an opening facing the second or conductor hook 16. Theconductor hook is U-shaped and is formed of two legs 21 and 22. The leg22 bears against the leg 21 to form a resiliently closed loop in whichthe conductor 17 is received. The leg 22 has an outwardly flaring guide23 which facilitates the insertion of conductor 17 into the loop. Theleg 21 is formed as a right angle extension of the leg 19 and is spacedfrom the end 24 of the leg 20 to provide an open ing 25 to receive thelip of rain gutter.

The hanger It) is preferably molded of nylon in order to provide therequired resilience at extremes of temperatures. The nylon is a verystrong plastic which withstands cold and hot temperatures; it is aninsulator; it will not support its own combustion and it has asuperficial softness which obviates any tendency of the hanger to fraythe insulation on the conductor 17.

In the use of the invention, the hanger is applied to a rain gutter inthe manner illustrated in FIG. 3. It can be seen from that figure thatto apply the hanger over the lip of a rain gutter the leg 20 must beresiliently sprung away from the leg 19 and the leg 21 of the conductorhook must be resiliently swung away from the leg 19 of the rain gutterhook. When the hanger is slipped into position, the respective legs areresiliently returned to their normal positions and securely hold thehanger from inadvertent removal. If a lateral force is applied to thehanger, it can easily he slid along the length of the rain gutter.

The string of lights is applied merely by introducing a conductor intothe conductor hook 16 by first pressing the conductor against theflaring guide 23 and, with a little pressure, forcing the conductor intothe loop, thereby spreading the legs 21 and 22 apart. Once the conductoris introduced, the legs resiliently return to their normal positionforming a closed loop which securely retains the conductor.

In taking down the string of lights, as indicated above,

'an operator standing at one end of the string merely pulls the stringtoward him and the hooks become engaged by the light 13 and are slidalong the rain-gutter. Thus, it is not necessary to place a ladder upagainst the roof at every hanger position in order to remove the lightstring. 1 claim: I 1. The combination with a rain gutter having agenerally vertical Wall terminated by a horizontal inwardly projectinglip, of a hanger or resilient plastic material for hanging a lightstring, said hanger comprising:

first and second legs at right angles to each other,

a third leg forming a V-shaped hook with the first leg, the opening ofthe V facing the second leg, the end of said third leg being spaced fromsaid second leg to provide an opening for the insertion of said raingutter lip,

a fourth leg forming a U-shaped hook with the end of the second leg andextending along the side of said second leg remote from said first leg,

the free end portion of said fourth leg bearing against said second legto form a closed loop for receiving said light string,

a guide in the free end of the fourth leg flaring away from the surfaceof the second leg,

said V-sha-ped hook receiving said rain gutter lip and said second legbearing against the vertical wall of said rain gutter. a

2. A hanger of resilient plastic material for hanging a light string ona rain gutter having a generally vertical Wall terminated by ahorizontally inwardly projecting lip, said hanger comprising:

a first leg,

a second leg connected at one of its ends to one end of the first legand at right angles to said first leg,

a third leg connected at one end to the other end of said first leg andforming a first hook with the first leg, the free end of said third legbeing spaced from said first leg and the opening of said hook facing oneside of said second leg, 7

a fourth leg connected tothe other end of said second leg and extendingalong the opposite side of said second leg and forming a second hookwith the second leg, 7

said first hook adapted 'to receive said rain gutter lip and saidsecondleg adapted tobear against the vertical Wall of said rain gutter.

3. A hanger of resilient plastic material for hanging a light string ona rain gutter having a generally vertical 10 wall terminated by ahorizontally inward-1y projecting lip, said hanger comprising:

ta first leg,

a second leg connected at one of its ends to one end of the first legand at right angles to said first leg, a third leg connected at one endto the other end of said first leg and forming a V-shaped hook with thefirst leg, the free end of said third leg being spaced from said firstleg and the opening of said hook fac- 7 References'Cited by the ExaminerUNITED STATES PATENTS 8/36 Leon 24-7312 7/41 Hall 24--73 10/43- Jones248--68 X 2/62 Faltin Q 248229 X 5/63 Cochran 24874 X CLAUDE A.'LE ROY,Primary Examiner.

2. A HANGER OF RESILIENT PLASTIC MATERIAL FOR HANGING A LIGHT STRING ONA RAIN GUTTER HAVING A GENERALLY VERTICAL WALL TERMINATED BY AHORIZONTALLY INWARDLY PROJECTING LIP, SAID HANGER COMPRISING: A FIRSTLEG, A SECOND LEG CONNECTED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS TO ONE END OF THE FIRSTLEG AND AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID FIRST LEG, A THIRD LEG CONNECTED AT ONEEND TO THE OTHER END OF SAID FIRST LEG AND FORMING A FIRST HOOK WITH THEFIRST LEG, THE FREE END OF SAID THIRD LEG BEING SPACED FROM SAID FIRSTLEG AND THE OPENING OF SAID HOOK FACING ONE SIDE OF SAID SECOND LEG, AFOURTH LEG CONNECTED TO THE OTHER END OF SAID SECOND LEG AND EXTENDINGALONG THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID SECOND LEG AND FORMING A SECOND HOOKWITH THE SECOND LEG, SAID FIRST HOOK ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID RAIN GUTTERLIP AND SAID SECOND LEG ADAPTED TO BEAR AGAINST THE VERTICAL WALL OFSAID RAIN GUTTER.